II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 937 

To repeal certain barriers to domestic fuel production, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2011 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

ENZI, and Mr. COATS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To repeal certain barriers to domestic fuel production, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Alternative 

5 Fuels Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States needs short- and long9 term policies designed— 


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1 (A) to eliminate the reliance of the United 

2 States on foreign energy sources; 

3 (B) to create jobs in the United States; 

4 and 

5 (C) to harness all of the energy resources 

6 of the United States; 

7 (2) promoting the energy security of the United 

8 States can be achieved by leveraging all domestic en9 ergy resources, including— 

10 (A) traditional fossil fuels; 

11 (B) alternative energy resources; and 

12 (C) renewable energy; and 

13 (3) the United States needs to adopt policies 

14 that would foster a more sustainable domestic en15 ergy supply that would— 

16 (A) decrease risks to national security; 

17 (B) lower domestic energy prices; 

18 (C) reduce trade deficits; and 

19 (D) create jobs in the United States. 

20 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF UNNECESSARY BARRIERS TO DOMES21 TIC FUEL PRODUCTION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 526 of the Energy Inde23 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17142) is 

24 repealed. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1112 of the 

2 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Author3 ization Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 17827) is repealed. 

4 SEC. 4. TRANSPARENCY FOR DELAYED LOAN GUARANTEE 

5 APPLICATIONS. 

6 Section 1702 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

7 U.S.C. 16512) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(l) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary fails to 

11 make a final decision by the date that is 270 days 

12 after the date on which the Secretary selects an ap13 plication to proceed to negotiations of terms and 

14 conditions for issuance of a conditional commitment 

15 for a loan guarantee application under this title for 

16 a substitute natural gas, chemical feedstock, or liq17 uid transportation fuel project, not later than 7 days 

18 after that date, and for every 90-day period there19 after, the Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) prepare a status report for the period 

21 covered by the report; and 

22 ‘‘(B) submit the status report to— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Energy and 

24 Natural Resources of the Senate; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Energy and 

2 Commerce of the House of Representa3 tives. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The status report described 

5 in paragraph (1) shall contain— 

6 ‘‘(A) a description of each reason for the 

7 delay of the application; 

8 ‘‘(B) the name and office of the official 

9 who, for the period covering the status report, 

10 has reviewed the application; and 

11 ‘‘(C) a detailed schedule for completion of 

12 the application review.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. ALGAE-BASED FUEL INCENTIVES. 

14 Section 211(o)(2)(B) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 7545(o)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(vi) ALGAE-BASED FUEL INCEN18 TIVES.—For purposes of calculating the 

19 applicable volume of renewable fuel under 

20 clauses (i) and (ii) for each calendar year, 

21 the Administrator shall consider each gal22 lon of renewable biomass produced from 

23 algae to be equal to 3 gallons of renewable 

24 fuel if the algae-based fuel was produced 

25 using carbon dioxide that was captured in 


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1 a manner that prevented the uncontrolled 

2 release of carbon dioxide into the atmos3 phere during a separate energy production 

4 process.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. LOAN GUARANTEES. 

6 Section 1703(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

7 (42 U.S.C. 16513(b)) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(11) Substitute natural gas production facili10 ties, if the gas is produced— 

11 ‘‘(A) from a solid feedstock through a gas12 ification process; and 

13 ‘‘(B) in a manner that captures at least 90 

14 percent of the carbon produced through the 

15 gasification process.’’. 

16 SEC. 7. MULTIYEAR CONTRACT AUTHORITY FOR DEPART17 MENT OF DEFENSE FOR PROCUREMENT OF 

18 ALTERNATIVE FUELS. 

19 (a) MULTIYEAR CONTRACTS FOR THE PROCURE20 MENT OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS AUTHORIZED.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 141 of title 10, 

22 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2410r. MULTIYEAR CONTRACT AUTHORITY: PUR2 CHASE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency (as de4 fined in section 2302) may enter into contracts for a pe5 riod not to exceed 20 years for the purchase of alternative 

6 fuels. 

7 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED PROVISIONS.—A contract entered 

8 into under subsection (a) shall include the following provi9 sions: 

10 ‘‘(1) A statement that the obligation of the 

11 United States to make payments under the contract 

12 in any fiscal year is subject to appropriations being 

13 provided specifically for that fiscal year and specifi14 cally for alternative fuels. 

15 ‘‘(2) A commitment to obligate the necessary 

16 amount for each fiscal year covered by the contract 

17 when and to the extent that funds are appropriated 

18 for that purpose for that fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(3) A statement that a commitment given 

20 under the authority of this section does not con21 stitute an obligation of the United States.’’. 

22 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec23 tions of chapter 141 of title 10, United States Code, 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘2410r. Multiyear contract authority: purchase of alternative fuels.’’. 


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1 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

3 shall issue regulations providing that the head of an agen4 cy may enter into a multiyear contract as authorized by 

5 section 2410r of title 10, United States Code (as added 

6 by subsection (a)), only if the head of the agency has de7 termined in writing that— 

8 (1) there is a reasonable expectation that, 

9 throughout the contemplated contract period, the 

10 head of the agency will request funding for the con11 tract at the level required to avoid contract cancella12 tion; 

13 (2) the technical risks associated with the tech14 nologies for the production of alternative fuel under 

15 the contract are not excessive; 

16 (3) the contract will contain appropriate pricing 

17 mechanisms to minimize risk to the Federal Govern18 ment from significant changes in market prices for 

19 energy; and 

20 (4) the contract will not be used by the Depart21 ment of Defense to finance new facilities intended to 

22 produce fuel for consumption by the Federal Gov23 ernment. 

24 (c) LIMITATION ON USE OF AUTHORITY.—No con25 tract may be entered into under section 2410r of title 10, 


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1 United States Code (as so added), until the regulations 

2 required by subsection (b) are issued. 

3 SEC. 8. ELECTRIC VEHICLE IMPACT ON ELECTRICITY DE4 MAND. 

5 Section 169(3) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 7479(3)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘(3) The term’’ and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(3) BEST AVAILABLE CONTROL TECH10 NOLOGY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; 

13 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘In no 

14 event’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) EMISSION LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In no event’’; 

17 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘Emis18 sions’’ and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN IN20 CREASES.—Emissions’’; and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—For 

23 purposes of establishing the ‘best available con24 trol technology’ for a major emitting facility 

25 that is an electric generating facility located in 


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1 a region in which demand for electricity has in2 creased significantly due to the volume of elec3 tric vehicles, the permitting authority shall take 

4 into account the extent to which the emissions 

5 of a pollutant have been reduced as a result of 

6 the increased use of electric vehicles.’’. 

Æ 


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